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When I saw this news earlier today, I was beyond shocked. He was perhaps the last guy I would have ever thought I would hear such news of - so much so that it actually scares me a bit, that something like this has happened to such a person/pilot. My thoughts and condolences go out to Vlado Lenoch's family and friends, as well as to the family and friends of the passenger, Bethany Root.

It's hard to not to think about how we lost Gerry Beck in a Mustang crash 10 years ago, and Bob Odegaard 5 years ago in the F2G crash. In each of these cases, a huge shock has been felt and a huge void left behind within the warbird community. Vlado was one of the most experienced and professional of Mustang/warbird pilots, and just seemed to be a great person, through and through. Although I never met the guy in person and won't pretend to have known him, I enjoyed watching him fly at a number of airshows over the years, and I'll miss the ability to chat with him on Facebook and on WIX as I had been able to do on limited occasions. A tremendous wealth of knowledge and a real enthusiast when it came to the Mustang, and I know he loved to talk and share with others who have shared a similar passion/interest (he once sent me a message just to let me know that of all of the leaks/stains on the bottom of my Mustang textures, one in particular didn't belong/was in a location that wouldn't cause such a leak/stain on the Mustang). Among some of his flying accomplishments, he had been part of the original Four Horseman aerobatic team, was a long-standing Heritage Flight pilot, was a test pilot for a well known Mustang restoration shop, would instruct Mustang formation clinics over the years, and just a few weeks ago he had added a 55th Mustang to his logbook.

When I saw this news earlier today, I was beyond shocked. He was perhaps the last guy I would have ever thought I would hear such news of - so much so that it actually scares me a bit, that something like this has happened to such a person/pilot.

That was exactly my reaction - it's a punch in the gut and it brings home to me exactly how unforgiving these airplanes are. What a devastating loss. I'll head over to A2A to check in.

Until we know what happened/caused this particular crash, I don't think that is an accurate conclusion to draw at all. In the case of the "Galveston Gal" TF-51D crash that you speak of, that was a perfectly mechanically-sound machine that was flown right into the ocean by the passenger because the pilot wasn't paying enough attention, there was a loss of perception of altitude, and let it happen (as the recovered on-board video illustrated).